We got a new car!

Our beloved Maxima is gone... But we love our new Camry.

Tim might be in love with this woman...

How can I blame him?

She's smart, conservative, hunts, fishes, loves hockey. She's a former beauty queen. But the topper - she has a job. He's always wanted to be a kept man.

I can't compete with this!

Guitar Praise

Saw this story here about a company making a Christian Guitar Hero (kinda). Unfortunately, it only plays on your computer, not any gaming system.

I guess they must have read my blog. I mean, it's no Chamber Music Hero, but it'll do.

Yogurtland

This is my new favorite treat - Yogurtland. It's self-serve frozen yogurt. You can add whatever topping to whatever combination of yogurt you like and then you pay by the weight.

Tonight, I had Heath Bar and Oreo yogurt with Oreo, Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, fresh strawberries, and chocolate syrup. Delicious!

Are Facebook friends real friends?

Since joining Facebook a few weeks ago, I have managed to gain 67 friends and counting... this without really trying. Some make fun of me when I announce I made 5 friends today. So this comic was especially prescient:

(If you can't read it, it says, "Nevin invited all 3958 of his myspace friends to help him move" Yet Nevin is obviously moving all his stuff by himself.)

Back to School

It's starting to look an awful like "Back to School" time.

Oh, I have a love/hate relationship with back to school. I LOVE summer vacation. If I had my way, my whole life would be summer vacation. But I know that is not possible. At the same time, I am excited about the new school year. New books. Clean desks. Brand new pencils and erasers. Exciting things to learn.

Wednesday we got our science books delivered. I was so excited, you would have thought it was my birthday. Love the smell and feel of a never before opened book. It wore off last night as I realized that SCHOOL IS STARTING IN A WEEK!

Time is cruel and it keeps marching on to a steady beat. And my ambivalence about the constant forward drumbeat is killing me!

Why Safe Kids Are Becoming Fat Kids

This article from the Wall Street Journal is very interesting. It's basic thesis is that in our drive to give kids a safer and safer environment, we have eliminated all risk and therefore, most outdoor fun! Bored kids sit inside all day and stare at some electronic media.

I have always been a proponent of letting kids have controlled risk in their lives. Are we supposed to send them off into the real world at 18 after having spent their entire lifetimes being coddled in a completely risk-free environment?

I remember the days, BEFORE CELL PHONES, when I was sent out to play with the neighborhood kids and told to come home when the street lights came on or when Davie's mother, with the tremedously loud whistle, called him home. Tim remembers being turned loose at Disneyland and being told only to meet up for dinner and when the park closed.

No parent wants to see their child hurt, but I don't want to raise a scared, dependent, risk-adverse child either.

Regan has developed a love for climbing trees, good for her. Maybe she'll reach the top like I did when I was five and looked down on the roof of my house hoping my mom didn't come out.

As I type, the girls and their friends are off riding their bikes to the neighborhood cupcake store.

It's a start.

Beach Day

Thanks to Jenny for organizing a weekly beach day. I love having a place to go and hang out with other women. Lori brought her camera and several people took turns with it. Here is our work:

This was a fun part of the day. Matthew and Justin captured a black widow spider and pretty much babysat it the whole day. They made a little village for it and kept it quite entertained.

Oh, I'm sad that summer is winding down...

Am I evil?

Oh I am not looking forward to this quadrennial time. (I think I made that word up.) I've come to the conclusion after years of denial that I really don't like the Olympics.

I think it reminds me too much of Sesame Street. You know how they would talk about the letter "B" and then move onto Oscar the Grouch. Even at my tender pre-school age, I KNEW we were supposed to learn about the letter "C" next. The show was too ADD. It flipped all over the place.

The same is true of the Olympics. One minute you are watching Men's Freestyle Skate, and the next minute they are doing a biography on some Russian pole vaulter. Then back to... not the skating, Synchronized Swimming! But just long enough to see the judges scores. I'm not sure who exactly they are scoring, but apparently they did really well... I have no idea if the Czech or the Nigerian won the Freestyle Skate. I don't know if the Russian pole vaulter is going to be competing any time... ever. For all I know she didn't qualify. Next they show the highlights from the American PROFESSIONALS kicking butt on Zimbabwe. Yea us, I guess...

O.K. I know I'm evil.

Go America!

God, can you bring Fall a little earlier this year so I can see new episodes of the Office before I lose my mind?

I had this post in mind before my sister posted her Olympic excitement post. So this is no reflection or rebuttal to her!

Jaded

It's so bizarre how far reaching the effects of my pastor's implosion have been.

I know, I know, "get over it already".

But the fact is, the shrapnel from the blast keeps making itself apparent. The extent to which sin can make an impact is quite unbelievable.

Probably the most damage to date is my inability to trust. Now I look at anyone in ministry with a VERY jaundiced eye. I listen with an extremely critical ear. I know what you said, but what did you mean? Any red flags??? What did you NOT say? And I swear if anyone says "I need to process this" or "Let's review our learnings" I'll probably run screaming from the building.

As we have been touring churches, I'm really trying to put my antennae down and not be hypercritical, but at the same time, I DON'T want to go through this again. So I try to find a balance. I don't want to be bitterly critical, but I do want to hear the Holy Spirit if he is whispering that there is a problem.

Since we have attended Parkcrest the most in this journey, Mike Goldsworthy gets the brunt of my consideration. (Mike, if you happen to stumble upon this post, please don't take this personally!) He has not done or said anything to give me concern. In fact I have been impressed with him every time I see him. I discovered that he has a blog, and at first, I didn't want to look. I don't want to know. What if I find something that gives me concern? But like anyone driving by an accident, I had to look.

I saw this:



Junior High Camp from Mike Goldsworthy on Vimeo.

Imagine a pastor, going to Arizona, just to hang with the JHighers.

I like that.

But I'm not going to look anymore.

I don't want to know.

Who wants to be pasta with shrimp?

Because Rick loves me, he awarded me this very prestigious honor. Thanks Rick, love ya too!

So in honor of his cooking style, I offer my first ever recipe on my blog.

*DISCLAIMER* I am not a cook, any resemblance to a cook real or imagined is purely coincidental.

Tonight I made my best Pasta with Shrimp ever. Usually I walk around my kitchen asking, "Who wants to be pasta with shrimp?" and I end up boiling the pasta, grilling the shrimp and then tossing it all together with some olive oil, butter and parmesan cheese. But tonight was different. Tonight, I listened a little closer.

First I started off grilling sliced yellow and orange bell pepper which I had coated with olive oil, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, and some steak seasoning.

Then I put some rigatoni and macaroni onto boil. (I used two kinds because I am a super-cool avante-garde chef, and also because I didn't have enough of either kind.)

I grilled up the shrimp in olive oil and added some garlic, basil, and oregano.

Finally, I tossed the pasta, super-yummy seasoned shrimp, a bit of olive oil, tiny bit of butter, a pinch of garlic salt, mozarella cheese, and the grilled bell peppers together.

YUM! I think everyone was happy.

New Blog Look

If you are reading this on an RSS feed, go to my actual blog and check out the new look. I love it! Although it did kinda cut Tim out of the picture... I'll have to fix that... later...

Let me know what you think...

Last Minute Book Report - Odysseus

The kids showed me this yesterday. It's very funny. I couldn't figure out how to embed the actual video, so here is a screen capture with a link to the site. It's about a minute long and very entertaining. I wish I would have seen it BEFORE we read the Odyssey!

If you click "Go Back" there are other books featured.

sesquipedalian

sesquipedalian \ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn\, adjective:

1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.
3. A long word.

At times, Dr. Laura and Jon Courson get so caught up in what they are saying that they actually make up words. Usually it's to make their point more... uh... pointed. Dr. Laura is often guilty of adding extra suffixes to a word like, "You are so repugnantified." (That's a made up example, but you get my point.) Jon Coursan will at times use the adverb form of a word when he really means the noun form. This way he gets that added -ly.

So I often comment on this desire to use longer words than necessary, but now, thanks to my dad, I have a really long word to describe them. I would have to say that Dr. Laura and Jon Coruson are sesquipedialian speakers, often making up words if the correct one is not long enough.

Dang, if I become a sesquipedlian speaker myself, people will really think I'm edumacated!